


Accidental Co-Parents

by orphan_account



Category: Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Kid Fic, Other, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-10
Updated: 2012-11-10
Packaged: 2017-11-18 08:40:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/559022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>But no, Rick was lost in his own damn head, and with Carol missing, Hershel stuck on crutches forever, and Carl as comatose as his dad, that left the kid in the care of him, Maggie, and Glenn. Beth too, technically, but she generally just tried to help Carl, so Daryl didn't really count her.</p>
<p>Which meant he somehow ended up playing co-parent with Glenn and Maggie.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Accidental Co-Parents

**Author's Note:**

> [*hands*](http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_md9gohamx51r9snfo.gif) I have no excuse for this fic. Honestly, it hit me that with everything going on the way it is, Glenn, Maggie, and Daryl are pretty much going to be the baby's parents. Several hours and roughly 2300 words later, I had a new OT3 and domestic fic.
> 
> This deviates pretty damn sharply from canon, post-3x04, but I don't care. There are a few unexplained things in this fic that will get touched on at some point in another fic in the series, but that's about it.

When Lori died, Rick lost it. He stopped paying attention to everything, and Daryl swore that if he wasn't so damned opposed to killing the living when they weren't already going to die, he'd have shot the man. He had a freaking baby to take care of, after all.

But no, Rick was lost in his own damn head, and with Carol missing, Hershel stuck on crutches forever, and Carl as comatose as his dad, that left the kid in the care of him, Maggie, and Glenn. Beth too, technically, but she generally just tried to help Carl, so Daryl didn't really count her.

Which meant he somehow ended up playing co-parent with Glenn and Maggie.

Daryl really wasn't sure how that one happened, but whatever. He and Maggie made supply runs on his bike for the necessities while Glenn stayed behind at the prison with the baby, who still didn't have a name. He knew it was Rick's kid, but really, the kid needed a name and Daryl was thirty seconds from just calling it Shane or something, just so the kid would have a freaking name. (Okay, not Shane. Daryl knew he had the tendency to be a dick, but he wasn't that mean.)

If only so he'd have a proper name to grumble about when the baby started wailing at one in the fucking morning and Glenn, still mostly asleep, stuck his head out and informed Daryl that it was his turn to feed the kid and change it, because he and Maggie had gotten the last two.

"How come I got to?" Daryl grumbled, getting up and taking the kid from Glenn, who rolled his eyes.

"Because we're stuck being the kid's parents and you're the other daddy. Deal with it, Daryl, and change the kid before she brings the roof down," he said, shuffling back into the cell he shared with Maggie. Daryl looked down at the kid and sighed, carrying her into the cell with the makeshift changing table.

"How come I'm the one that's getting up in the middle of the night for you, huh?" he murmured, changing the baby quickly and making a face. "Man, what did you _eat_? Good lord." He wrapped up the diaper and tossed it in the can to be taken care of later before picking up the kid and one of the already-made bottles of formula for her to eat. "You really need a name, kid. Even if it's something completely stupid."

"Could always name her Lori," Glenn said quietly, sticking his head out again and smiling at them. "You know, for somebody who hunts so well, you apparently have no inside voice."

"Jesus, Glenn, go back to sleep. She's almost done, anyway," Daryl replied, tipping the bottle up a little more for the last bit.

"Eh, we couldn't sleep anyway," Maggie murmured, coming over and taking the baby from Daryl.

"Hey! Give her back!" Glenn grinned and shook his head.

"You're not going to get her back from Maggie. Not for a while, anyway," he said, grinning wider at Daryl's sulk. "Don't worry, you'll get her again eventually. Stop pouting, jeez."

"I wasn't pouting," Daryl muttered, shaking his head. "If y'all are keeping her for the night, just say so, so I can get back to bed." Maggie shook her head and handed her back to Daryl.

"Nah. You keep her for the night. We could use the sleep," she said, smiling and dragging Glenn back to their room. "Night, Daryl. Night, baby."

"Night, guys," Daryl replied, sitting down on his bed and hoping like hell that it'd land on the towel when she burped this time. One ruined shirt and crossbow strap was enough, thank you.

* * *

After a few more days and some serious frustration, Daryl finally asked Glenn and Maggie what they should name the kid, since Rick vanished somewhere into the prison and wasn't exactly around to ask.

"I can't keep calling her 'kid' or 'the baby' forever, I mean, really," he said, nodding at the baby in Glenn's arms.

"Could name her after her mom. I don't think Lori would mind," Maggie said, shrugging a little. "What do y'all think?"

"Sounds good to me," Glenn said, although Daryl doubted if he was coherent enough to answer that, judging by how tired he looked.

"Alright, then. Now, Glenn, give me Lori, and go sleep. I'd mistake you for a walker if I didn't know better," Daryl replied, taking Lori and nudging Glenn to sleep. "Wait, the hell's her last name?"

"Uh..."

"Not Rhee, because Jesus, I would not subject her to the name Lori Rhee," Glenn said, shaking his head and leaning against the wall outside the cell. "Greene? Or Dixon?"

"You really want her sharing a last name with Merle?" Daryl asked, raising an eyebrow and smirking at Glenn.

"Point taken. Although, she would share a last name with you then."

"Nah. She can have Maggie's last name," Daryl said, nodding at Maggie.

"Lori Greene it is. Now go take care of your daughter, Dixon, while Glenn gets some sleep and I talk to Daddy," Maggie said, smiling and pushing Glenn into the cell. "You and I need to do a run later. She's down on diapers again."

"Alright. Should get gas for the bike if we can find somewhere," Daryl replied, holding onto Lori. "She eaten yet?" He got a bottle shoved into his hand in response. "Alright then."

"She's less fussy when she eats with you for some reason," Maggie said, shrugging. "She won't fuss when Glenn changes her, but if he tries to feed her, she gets fussy."

"Whatever. Just shows she knows which one of her daddies is better at feeding people," Daryl said, then froze, because wow, that was the first time he'd actually referred to himself as one of Lori's parents.

"I would argue that point, but I am about to fall asleep, so you get away with that just this once, Daryl," Glenn said from his bunk. Daryl shook his head and smiled, starting to feed Lori.

"Sleep, Glenn. Later, Daryl, Lori," Maggie said, walking off to go find her father. Daryl looked down at Lori and raised an eyebrow.

"Your other parents are insane," he muttered, shaking his head.

* * *

Surprisingly, everything lasted. They kept the doors locked so nothing got in, and kept Lori relatively quiet. Unless she was happy, at which point, she started giggling, and none of them could really bring themselves to quiet her down then.

She was edging up on a month old when Daryl and Glenn ran into someone on a run. Lori had been low on diapers and formula, so they'd found a local Walmart to look through when they almost literally ran into the other people.

"Andrea!" Glenn said, grinning at her. "Who's your friend?"

"Michonne," Andrea said, smiling at both of them. "Daryl, Glenn, how are you guys?"

"How about we finish the supply run and bring y'all back? I don't feel like standing around and talking out in the open when we got a daughter waiting at home who's hungry," Daryl said, lowering his crossbow slightly.

"Daughter? You two?" Andrea asked, eyes wide. Daryl groaned and shook his head.

"It ain't like that. Lord. We'll explain when we get there. Glenn, come on," he said, heading into the store and gesturing for them to follow him. Thankfully, the store was relatively clear, and Daryl had Glenn back the car up to the door so they could fill up the back.

"Thank god we took the car. Can fit more than your bike," Glenn said, shoving another package of diapers in the back.

"Yeah, well, with as often as Lori's going through them, we need the extra," Daryl replied, ignoring Andrea's confused look. "Everybody in. Let's go."

Glenn explained to Andrea as best they could on the way there, filling her in on everything that happened since the farm, and they'd only just pulled up when they started to explain about Lori and baby Lori.

"So, when you say Lori... You mean the baby. You named her after her mother?" Andrea asked, raising an eyebrow, and Daryl nodded.

"Yeah, and she has Maggie's last name, since Rick seems to have vanished. Haven't heard from him in days, and when he does show up, it's long enough to grab a bit of food before he poofs again," Glenn said, shrugging. "So Lori has Maggie for a mom and Daryl and me for dads."

"Daryl Dixon, a dad. I never thought I'd see that one," Andrea said, getting out and helping to haul things in. Michonne got out and helped as well, though she still didn't say anything. "Michonne, these are good people, I swear. Even the redneck."

"Yeah, well, even if we weren't, you wouldn't be able to shoot us, with your aim," Daryl replied, smirking and picking up a few packages of diapers. Andrea gaped and turned to Glenn.

"Did he just _joke_?"

"Yeah, he does that, especially now that we're home and he doesn't have to worry about being too far from Lori," he said, shrugging and following Daryl inside and putting the stuff in the cell they used for Lori's stuff. With Andrea and Michonne helping, unloading took half the time it normally did, so Glenn introduced them to Lori, while Daryl stood back a little bit and looked uneasy. "Oh, calm down, Daryl, they aren't going to hurt her."

Maggie grinned at him and yanked him over before taking Lori from Glenn and handing her to Daryl.

"There, now relax, Daryl. You looked like you were going to kill somebody," Maggie said, and Daryl would have glared, but he was holding Lori and it was really hard to even fake being mad when he had her in his arms. He smiled and Maggie and Glenn both rolled their eyes. "God, she's got him wrapped around her finger and she's only a month old."

"Shut up," Daryl muttered, though it lacked any kind of heat. Okay, they had a point, but he really didn't care.

"You are so gone for our daughter, man," Glenn said, shaking his head and grinning. "Anyway, come on, we'll find a room for you two while Daryl's busy cuddling Lori." Daryl would've flipped him off, but that would have involved moving an arm from around Lori, so. He just rolled his eyes and kept holding her, ignoring Glenn's smirk.

* * *

At some point, Maggie, Daryl, and Glenn had gotten annoyed by the fact that they could not all be cuddling Lori at the same time, so while Glenn held her, Maggie and Daryl yanked a few mattresses off the spare bunks and put them together with Daryl's bed and covered them in blankets before sitting down and simultaneously making grabby hands for Lori and Glenn. Glenn smiled and shook his head, sitting down between the two of them, not surprised in the least when both of them attached themselves to his side and each rested a hand on Lori somewhere.

"You two are so totally gone for her," Glenn muttered and Daryl snorted.

"You're as bad as we are. Admit it," Maggie said, poking Glenn's side. And just as Glenn was conceding the point with a nod, Rick walked into the cell block, looking more like the Rick he had been before Lori died. He looked at the baby resting on Glenn and sighed, shaking his head.

"Y'all can keep her. I wouldn't... I'm not a great father. And I was kind of a shitty husband." Maggie snorted and muttered something that sounded like 'kind of?', while Daryl just shrugged and kept looking at Lori. "What'd you name her?"

"Lori Greene," Daryl said, glancing back up at Rick and raising an eyebrow, wondering if there was going to be a problem with it.

"Oh. okay. Uh. Yeah. I'm going to go... Talk to Carl," Rick said, walking away while Daryl resisted the urge to shoot him.

"At least he didn't try to take her," Glenn muttered, while Maggie and Daryl nodded.

"I would've shot him if he had," Daryl replied, Maggie nodding in agreement.

"She's ours now," Maggie said, smiling at Lori. The smile widened into a grin when Lori smiled back at her. Daryl smiled at the both of them, lightly running his fingers over the top of Lori's head.

Andrea was staring at them, more than a little confused, even after being back with the group for a week. Then again, there was a difference between knowing they all loved Lori and were comfortable with each other and _seeing_ it. Daryl just ignored her and curled around Glenn and Lori more, catching Maggie's hand and ignoring her look of surprise at him holding her hand. Yeah, it was a little out of character for him to be this touchy, but they were a family, and Daryl was going to be affectionate with them. They could deal with it.

Maggie's confusion faded and she smiled, settling in and closing her eyes, falling asleep soon after. Honestly, they were all tired. Even with the lack of walkers around and there being three parents, having a month-old baby was tiring. Daryl smiled and closed his eyes, drifting off into a light sleep.


End file.
